Homecoming
by Mad Girl Lullaby
Summary: It had been 3 years since Dick Grayson had been in Gotham. After Jason the emptiness of grief was too much and the rift in their family grew, so Dick ran. Ran, away from the sad eyes of the team, from the home that felt too quiet and from the father who'd already lost a son. It took years to find his way back home. But the bird that comes back to Gotham isn't the Robin that left.
1. Flying Home

The air is cold and burns his lungs in the most familiar ways, Gotham always was an unforgiving city. The tarmac is empty as Dick walks off the plane, single bag slung over his now broad shoulders. Its been too long, he knows, but even now the air is too thick. _I wonder if Bruce has found me yet?_ The thought flits through his mind, not as bitter as it once would have been. It didn't matter even if Bruce knew he was here, Dick didn't plan on staying long in Gotham. Just to scope things out and pick up some stuff from a few old safe houses, then he'd move on to Bludhaven.

"Home sweet home." The words carried into the air, and maybe some part of him hoped, into the ears of a bat.

Dick Grayson left Gotham an angry, grief stricken teenager. He'd come back a twenty year old, no longer grieving but the anger replaced with a hard determination. Things had changed in those intermittent years, the boy became a man and home felt more foreign to him than the many oceans he'd already crossed. They say time heals but really it just moves forward, so quickly that those old wounds become unrecognizable. At least, he hoped it did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _Four Days Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Tim Drake sighed as he sat down in front of his computer, Bruce was in another mood and was off yelling at Clark over some league conflict. Tim had been told to go home and not concern himself with adult business. It was thoroughly condescending, but Tim knew there was no point arguing. He'd resigned himself to finishing his chem homework before a ding from his computer told him of a new message.

 _Merry Christmas, little bro._

 _-D.G._

The sentiment was about a week late, but Tim was used to that with Dick's erratic schedule and constant moving. Tim was the only one Dick kept in almost semi-regular contact with after he'd left. Semi-regular as in he'd always send an email and a gift on birthdays and Christmas, then a longer update email every two months so Tim wouldn't worry. But Tim always worried, especially when there was a break in the schedule. When Dick didn't email him for months on end and Tim worried he'd cut all ties for good, or that the ties had been cut for him. Every email was encrypted and came from a different proxy server each time, been run through so many different networks and servers that by the time Tim could hack through the weeds of misleading information it would be too late and Dick would be long gone, if Tim found him in the first place.

"Just come home already." Tim said in frustration, tired of being left behind. Of the one always left waiting for any news of his older brother, good or bad.

Bruce searched tirelessly for the first year after Dick left, determined to bring him back kicking and screaming. Dick had left a letter, told Bruce not to worry but he didn't know when he'd be back. And at first Bruce let him be, thinking that he needed a few days to himself, but when days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and Dick's seventeenth birthday past with no word Bruce lost his patience. Worry and the still very recent death clouding the family made him scared, terrified of losing another robin, another son. So the search had begun and for almost twelve months they'd tracked down leads, followed the wisps of a cold trail through different cities and countries. Until they'd hit a dead end and Bruce had nowhere else to look. Dick was trained by the best, it shouldn't have surprised them that he could disappear so easily. But they'd never thought he'd disappear from them. It was a little later that Dick sent his first and last email to Bruce, directly to the Batcomputer.

 _I'm sorry. I'm okay. Please stop looking for me._

 _-D.G._

Tim had been thirteen when Dick had left and he was fifteen now, almost sixteen. He remembered reading that letter and not understanding why his big brother didn't want to come home. And Bruce never really lost that pain behind his eyes, resigned himself to the truth and blamed himself for Dick leaving because Bruce Wayne was a master at taking on guilt.

Tim closed the message and turned halfhearted back to his chemistry book. _Merry Christmas Dick._

"Bruce just let it go, it was a small oversight nothing bad came out of it. _"_ Clark said for the umpteenth time. It was a pointless argument that was leading nowhere. And though Clark could see that he wanted to continue the argument, Bruce decided to relent just this once.

"Fine. But it better not happen again." The dark knight was not happy, but couldn't disagree with Clark's statement. Superman sighed, him and Bruce were still in costume standing in the Batcave, the argument making him ridiculously late getting home to Lois.

"Hey Bruce, are you okay?" Clark asked, knowing that it was a loaded question to the vigilante. Bruce wasn't an emotive guy really, but even Clark could see the fatigue and sadness lingering on him, which meant he'd been thinking about Dick again. Bruce's eyes narrowed and Clark was waiting the berating retort when a flashing alarm set off on the Batcomputer.

Batman turned completely to the computer, hands flying across the keyboard. Clark watched as a live video feed, from what he assumed was a CCTV camera, started playing in front of them. The video was of a run down warehouse somewhere on the edges of Gotham Harbor. Clark couldn't make out much from the view of the front, but he sensed Bruce saw something even his eyes couldn't.

"Bruce what's going on? Is it something we need to handle?" Clark asked his friend, voice serious as he gazed at the video feed. There was a quick flash of black then the camera cut out, whoever had set off the alarm now knew they were watching.

"No its... its an old safe house, one that hasn't been used since Dick-" Bruce cut off suddenly, eyes frozen on the blank screen. The search had had no results for so long, that Bruce didn't trust the swell of hope in his chest. But it was there regardless. Clark saw the brief flicker of emotion in his best friend's eyes, that was a lot for the Batman, and knew where his mind was. Even after they'd called off the official search, Clark knew Bruce never truly stopped. That he followed every dead end and cold lead he'd find, Clark helped when he could but mostly because he worried for Bruce. After that first year and Dick's message, Clark knew that the only way they'd find Dick was if he wanted to be found. So he played the waiting game, hoping that the boy he'd watched grow up would come back soon. And it seemed he did.

"So lets go check it out, maybe he's come home." Clark said cautiously, not wanting to upset Bruce. The Dark Knight didn't trust hope and was pessimistic about most things.

"Maybe. Or maybe a lowlife thug just broke into the wrong warehouse." Batman's voice was clipped and dark. Clark winced hoping that wasn't the case, cause he worried about the hypothetical intruder if it were. Batman read out the coordinates and hoped into the Batmobile, Clark deciding to fly and meet him there. It was telling that Bruce didn't put up any fight against his involvement. And with that they were off.


	2. Escape Route

_**Author's Note Please Read:**_

 _ **This is an AU/ fill in for the time jump between Seasons 1 and 2 of Young Justice. Kind of my spin on some stuff I wish we'd gotten to see in the time jump. Takes place between seasons 1 and 2, after Jason's death and after Tim has already moved into the Manor. Tweaked some things with the timeline and some character's ages in order to make it sensible. Hopefully it all makes sense in the story. I've taken some real storylines from the comics and have tried to make them or at least certain elements from them fit into the YJ universe. I'd love to hear what you guys think, so please leave a review down at the bottom if you can. This story is also cross posted on AO3.**_

 _Great. He'll be here any minute now._ Dick thinks as he rushes to finish gathering materials, hoping to beat Bruce before he got there. Richard guessed that the place was wired, he'd been careful to avoid most camera's since entering the city. But after bypassing the first two alarms, Dick had accidentally set off a third and had to take out the CCTV camera hanging on the building across. That meant that Bruce knew he was here, or at least that someone was here, and was on his way.

"Been in Gotham for about four days and already led him straight to me. Maybe I am pathological." He muttered to himself.

Outside Clark floated above the warehouse just as the Batmobile pulled up. It was a gloomy gray night, the thick clouds threatening rain with every passing moment. Clark examined the surrounding area, a rather sketchy part of the docks that was littered with various rundown buildings and warehouses.

"See anything Superman?" Bruce's voice called into the comm in his ear. Clark scanned the building with his x-ray vision.

"One intruder, male with no back up close by." Clark assessed. There was a grumble on the comm as Bruce proceeded to break into the building, Clark floated in through an open emergency hatch on the roof.

Dick jumped up into the rafters as he heard the distinct swish of a cape close by. It was an almost undetectable noise, something anyone else would dismiss as the wind, but it was a sound that accompanied so many of his childhood memories. A sound that he associated with the adrenaline of jumping off buildings, and the warmth of parental protection. The feeling that someone was always there to catch him. It was a safety net that Dick hadn't had in a very long time.

Batman entered the building like a shadow, silent and foreboding. He quickly scanned the room, noting signs of entry and tampering within the building. He switched the heat vision on in his cowl, noting the scattered heat signatures around the place, but not finding the body they originated from. Superman had not seen anyone leave, so the intruder was hiding somewhere within the building.

"Superman, come in closer, but watch the exits." Bruce said over the comm link.

Nightwing held his breath, silently moving from rafter to rafter. He kept his eyes on Bruce the entire time, fighting the urge to say something. He should be used to hiding by now, used to running away but it was always hard especially from those you cared about. Dick was inching his way to the high windows along the left side of the warehouse, just a few more well timed leaps and he'd be home free.

Bruce swept through the building, looking for signs of things missing or disturbed but found none. Whoever was here knew what they were doing and had left almost no trace of their presence, the keyword being almost. Bruce heard the slightest movement, the lightest fluttering coming from somewhere above him. He turned his gaze up to the rafters suddenly, catching the dark figure jumping from rafter to rafter closer to the window. _Oh no you don't._ Bruce thought as he made his way after him, jumping up on the window sill to try to cut him off.

 _Shit._ Dick knew he'd been made, that now the Batman was on his tail. This just made his entire day much more difficult. Dick pulled his hood up, trying to cover his face. Bruce stopped at the window sill, blocking his path. He stopped just before the Batman, hiding in the shadows of the roof.

"Whoever you are, it would be better for your health if you just stopped right there." Bruce's voice came out grumbled and distorted. Dick couldn't help himself, he had to laugh at being on the other end of the infamous Batman voice. It was such a surreal experience, he just had to chuckle. Batman's glare intensified at his laughter. Dick merely flipped gracefully to the rafter below him, deciding that a fight was just not worth his time currently. _This wasn't the plan. I was supposed to get in and out without interference._

Batman merely followed his movements with cold eyes, calculating all the different escape routes the intruder could take. His eyes narrowed at the display of acrobatic prowess. _He's trained, that's for sure._ Bruce thought before following his laughter across the rafters. Dick jumped effortlessly across the ceiling, from rafter to rafter speeding up towards the other window across from them. He knew Bruce was playing with him, watching him inch closer and closer to escape just to memorize his movements and asses his strengths. But Dick had a few tricks up his sleeve to. Stopping just below the window, sparing a glance at Batman just slightly behind him, Dick pulls two small metal disks out of his boot. Just as Batman reaches him, Dick jumps suddenly towards the window. Twisting his body, he flings one disk at the wooden support beam under the rafter that Bruce stood on and the other disk flies out towards the window in front of him. Two small explosions sound simultaneously. One goes off behind Dick, destroying the wooden support and bringing down the rafters Bruce stood on, partially caving in the ceiling. The other disk makes impact with the glass of the window and explodes outwards, shattering the window and opening up an escape route that Dick flings his body through.

It was raining outside. The gray Gotham sky pouring fat raindrops down onto the hooded man that stood underneath it. He needed to get out of here and fast, he could already hear Bruce moving through the wreckage of the building. Dick was about to turn and disappear into the maze of abandoned buildings when an unnatural wind knocked him over, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Superman rushed forward towards the man in the hood, intent on stopping his escape. He flew past him, using his shoulders to graze past the man and knock him over. Clark stopped in front of Dick, looming over the man.

 _You've gotta be kidding me._ Dick thought as he landed non too gently on his already bruised up side. He was not expecting Superman to show up, that was a mistake on his part. Dick thought very quickly about what he was going to do. He wasn't prepared for Clark, didn't have any kryptonite on him and couldn't outrun both him and Batman. He cursed under his breath as a solution came to him. Well looks like the secrets out anyway.

"You gonna drag me back Clark?" Dick said, standing up and letting his hood slip back away from his face. His bright blue eyes looked questioningly up at Superman, who had gone dead silent in response.

"Dick?" Clark's voice was strangled as he stared at the boy, no man now, he'd known as Robin. Dick had gotten taller since the last time he'd seen him, the lingering roundness of adolescence gone from his face. His eyes cold and hard. _He looks like Bruce._ The thought came abruptly into Clark's mind, making him flinch as he no longer saw the little boy that he'd watched grow up.

"I'm not going back, at least not yet. So you either stop me yourself or get out of my way." Dick said, appealing to Clark's emotional side. Bruce had always called Clark's sentimentality a weakness, something to be exploited. Bruce would almost be proud of Dick's emotional manipulation. Clark was protective and unwilling to hurt those he cared for, and he knew Dick would go down fighting.

"He just wants you to come home. We all do." Clark said, sadness coating his voice. "But I can understand needing space, I know how hard it is to come back once you've left." And with that Clark stepped aside. Bruce would kill me later, he could already hear the words and betrayal in the other man's voice. But he knew Dick, knew that the kid would come back once he was ready and maybe even before that. Dick's heart was too big to not be broken over the thought of hurting his family.

Dick ground his teeth, setting his jaw in defiance as he nodded at Clark. The truth in Clark's words too much to bear, he'd face them later but for now he merely turned and ran. If there was one thing he was good at after all these years it was running. Dick sprinted past Superman, past a row of warehouses until dropping down into a sewer grate and disappearing from the area.

Bruce finally emerged from the ruined safehouse, debris falling all around him as the roof continued to cave in. He emerged from the wreckage and made his way over to Superman.

"What happened? Where's the intruder?" His voice was ruff and aggravated.

"Gone. He's- He's just gone." Clark couldn't look at Bruce, feeling something heavy settle in his chest. An emotion he didn't want to identify yet.

"You let him escape?" Bruce's voice was seething, unbelieving. "How? Who was he?"

Clark didn't answer. He gave one last closed off look towards his friend then turned towards the sky, flying off without another word. Bruce was left standing alone, confused and anger at his friend's lack of response.


End file.
